The 10-year-old boy responsible for six-year-old Lee Bonneau’s death cannot be held criminally responsible for his death, and has been placed under the care of social services.
The lack of charges has sparked a debate across the country, but according to the dean of the College of Law at the University of Saskatchewan a case like this is extremely rare. "What happened was a tragedy. Should it result in a wholesale change of the law? I'm loathe to take what may be one isolated incident and change the law because of this,” Sanjeev Anand said
Anand said lowering the age of young offenders would mean more youth in the court system and in prison, alongside older, seasoned offenders.
Right now, it’s up to child and family services to help rehabilitate a troubled child, but Saskatchewan's shildren's advocate is looking into whether or not the province has the services available to do it properly.
“We're fully independent so it's my ethical moral legal responsibility that we leave no stone unturned,” said Bob Pringle.
Pringle’s office has the authority to talk to anyone and ask for all information regarding the case to find out what went wrong and how it can be addressed going forward.
“The question becomes one of political will and whether it makes sense to take a child as young as that and put them in the criminal justice system,” Anand said.
“I think what we have to do as a society and what lawmakers have to do is say what do we want to achieve with these young people and how best to do that. Is it through the criminal justice system or through the social welfare system?"
The Children’s Advocate investigation has a long road ahead. Many of their cases never go public, but Pringle said given the seriousness and national interest in Bonneau’s death, this one might.
